Monday, August 30, 2010

No Rest for the Wicked

With six new students, my English as a Second Language class is hopping. Of course, they are all at different levels and differing abilities too. One of my students either needs glasses or has a very hard time reading. When you have to learn to read at the same time you are learning a second language, well, it makes it so much harder.

Anyway, one of my sweet older ladies made the comment tonight that it's good to have new students but now I am really busy. I told her that there's this expression in English: "There's no rest for the wicked." LOL!

"Wicked" is obviously a word she did not know. I gave it to her as homework. I'd like to be a fly on her wall when she learns what "wicked" means. LOL! I'm sure we'll have an interesting conversation on Thursday.

Speaking of "No rest for the wicked," just where did that expression come from? Hmm. I'm guessing it's from some famous sermon or maybe even the Bible. Hmm. It looks like I've got some homework of my own. Unless you happen to know.

Hey, that's the ticket. I'll give a free file to the first person who can tell me where "no rest for the wicked" comes from and if more than one person provides the answer, I'll host a drawing for another free file. On your mark. Get set. Go!

Until then, Happy Creative Time!

7 comments:

Lisa said...

It is a phrase from the Book of Isaiah verses 48:22 and 57:20-21.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ileana, it would seem that the saying has it's roots in the Bible, the Book of Isaiah 48:22 " 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked.' "
Book of Isaiah 57:21 "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."

Hope you have a great week and have a little time just for you.

hugs
Andrea

Lisa Avolio said...

It is from the Bible, although it may not match the current translations because it has been around a long time. Isaiah 57:20-21.
For ESOL idioms, we often use
http://www.idiomconnection.com/ because it includes mini quizzes.
For idiom or word origins and meanings, I like to search with the words in quotes or use
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html and/or
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/

jzayler said...

According to the all-wise internet - is is derived from the Bible from the book of Isaiah but it became popular in the 1930 when it was used as a title for a Little Orphan Annie cartoon.

Lynn C. said...

"No rest for the wicked" or "No peace for the wicked" comes from a phrase from the Book of Isiah, verses 48:22 and 57:20-21. It basically means "the wicked shall be tormented" so people need to refrain from being wicked or bad things will happen to them.

Marilee said...

This is what I found online:
"No rest for the wicked", or "No peace for the wicked", is a phrase originating from the Book of Isaiah verses 48:22 and 57:20-21.

Book of Isaiah 48:22 " 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked.' "
Book of Isaiah 57:20 "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt."
Book of Isaiah 57:21 "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
Its literal meaning can be taken as: "The wicked shall be tormented."

momof5 said...

Thanks to the wealth of information that can be found on the internet. It comes from the Bible (Isaiah 57) and means "no peace for the wicked" which refers to the eternal torment of Hell that awaits sinners.